May 28, 2026

News Brief 05_26_26 DS Mix v1 NEWS

News Brief 05_26_26 DS Mix v1 NEWS
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Haunts and theme parks are facing similar challenges in entertaining guests: the connective tissue between the big moments is what makes the day (or night) work.
In this issue:
- Sinners Announced for Halloween Horror Nights Orlando and Hollywood
- Hersheypark Dark Nights Sets June Audition Dates
- Epic Universe Turns One: Takeaways
- Disney Faces Class Action Over Disneyland Facial Recognition
- Field of Screams Nixa Expands to Branson With New Indoor Haunt
- Hotel of Terror Reaches Purchase Agreement with City of Springfield
- Monsterpalooza Comes to Pasadena, CA This Weekend
- Get Ready for Midwest Haunters Convention, June 6th - 7th

Read more:
https://mailchi.mp/hauntedattractionnetwork.com/why-haunts-are-becoming-scream-parks

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Coming up your weekly roundup of news from around the

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haunt industry. Welcome to the show. I'm Philip on the

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HN Show. We bring you the haunt news, information, and

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education you need to prepare for Halloween. On Tuesdays, we

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bring you a roundup of news from haunts worldwide. Read

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more about these stories and so much more in our

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free weekly newsletter. Subscribe at the link in the show notes,

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and as always for the news roundup, I'm passing it

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off to Darryl.

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Sinners announced for Halloween Horror Nights Orlando and Hollywood Universal

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Orlando Resort in Universal Studios Hollywood will both feature a

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haunted house based on the twenty twenty five Ryan Cooglar

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vampire horror film Sinners. At Halloween Horror Nights twenty twenty six.

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The Cross Park reveal makes Sinners the second haunted house

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confirmed for the Orlando event and the first confirmed for Hollywood.

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Both versions of the house are set inside Club Juke,

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the nineteen thirties Mississippi juke joint at the center of

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the film, with the Smokestack Twins facing a vampire attack

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from Remick's troop of bloodthirsty vampires. The two coasts typically

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run different versions of shared Houses each year. The Universal

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has not specified whether that will be the case for Sinners.

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Sinners earned sixteen Academy Award nominations at the twenty twenty

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sixth ceremony, the most for any film in Oscar history,

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and won four, including Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan.

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Halloween Horror Knights run select nights August twenty eight through

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November first at Universal Studios Florida, and September three through

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November first at Universal Studios Hollywood. Tickets are on sale now.

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Hershey Park Dark Knights sets June edition dates Hershey Park

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and Hershey, Pennsylvania has announced the additions for the twenty

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twenty six season of Dark Knights, with three days of

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casting calls running June eighteenth through June twentieth at the

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off site location of twenty seven Northeast Drive between the

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Duncan and Starbucks. Thursday is dedicated to all star interview

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sessions from two to eight pm, while Friday noon to

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six and Saturday nine to three host open auditions for

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both alumni and new performers. On day. Programming extends beyond

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the addition itself to include lawn games, Music Group Edition sessions,

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new hire, onboarding, production q and as, and a Father's

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Day cookoff for Saturday participants. The recruitment push carries an

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all aboard the Birthday Bash theme tied to Dark Knight's

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fifth year on site. Parking is limited and the parking

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is encouraged carpooling and group arrivals. Epic Universe Turns one Takeaways.

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Universal Epic Universe Orlando, Florida Vice president and General Manager

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Jeff Polk sat down with a small group of reporters

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to mark the park's first year, discuss its unique design elements,

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and push back on expansion timelines. Folk said Universal is

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considering future expansions, but it's currently focused on optimizing the

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existing guest experience, comparing the work ahead to the thirty

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five years it took to fully build out the rest

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of Universal Orlando. Separately, the park has tested an open

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hub concept that gave corporate event guests free access to

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Celestial Park without entry to the surrounding lands, and has

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rolled out a new Captain Coco meet and greet tied

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to the Moonship Chocolates and Celestial Sweet shops. On this

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week's Green Tagged, Philip and Scott discuss how Epic Universe

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needs smaller experiences to absorb crowds, and Universal may eventually

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turn Celestial Park into a CityWalk style space or charge

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per portal. Scott made the case that Celestial Park is

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pretty lights with no storytelling, a transition space that's too

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big for the IP rich lands it connects to, and

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that the pivot towards atmospheric activations and event based access

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is how to solve that without another major build. Follow

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the link in our show notes to listen to this

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week's Green Tag podcast. Disney faces class action over Disneyland

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facial recognition. A class action lawsuit filed in federal court

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in California accuses Disney of violating privacy, competition, and consumer

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protection laws through facial recognition technology deployed at the entrances

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of the Disneyland resort in Anaheim, California. The complaint, reported

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by The Hollywood Reporter, argues that Disney doesn't adequately disclose

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its biometric collection practices, alleging that photographs of guests faces

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are taken at the gate and compared with images captured

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when the ticket or annual pass was first used. The

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suit says Disney does not adequately disclose the use of

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their biometric collection, so consumers, which almost always include children,

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have no idea that Disney is collecting this highly sensitive data.

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Attorney Blake Yagman, representing the proposed class, writes that guests

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should be able to expressly opt into this type of

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sensitive face recognition technology with written consent. The onus of

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privacy rights should not be on the victim. At Disneyland,

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the automated lanes are signed at each turnstile and run

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alongside traditional lanes where a card member compares the PhotoPass

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to the guest in person on green tagged Philip and

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Scott discussed that the real issue is guest expectations about

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being informed about any AI use of their biometric data

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and likely outcome as a tighter, more explicit opt in

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step at ticket purchase, rather than the rollback of the

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technology itself. The case also matters because Universal has been

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testing an open hub concept at Epic Universe or access

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can be limited to the Celestial park alone, and any

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move towards per portal entry would rely on the same

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category of verification now being challenged in court. Field of screams.

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NIXA expands to Branson with a new indoor haunt, The

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Field of Screams NIXA in Nixon, Missouri, is opening a

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new indoor haunted attraction at Ballparks of America in Branson, Missouri,

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in September eleven. The new operation, Field of Screams Branson

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will run roughly forty thousand square feet at launch under

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a multi year sublease, with a plan to grow to

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one hundred thousand square feet over the next few years.

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A launch attraction is called the ninth Inning Nightmare, a

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nod to the baseball venue. Owner Derrek Moore told ozarks

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first dot com that the sets will be cinematic in scale,

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with Moore also running new entertainment attraction owned by Ballparks

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of America, including Zombie Laser tag Glow, Mini golf, and

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Escape Rooms. The two hundred and seventy thousand square foot

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Ballparks of America campus will continue normal operations, including its

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fall baseball tournament slate. The Hotel of Terror reaches purchase

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agreement with the City of Springfield. Since twenty nineteen, the

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Hotel of Terror in Springfield, Missouri, and the City of

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Springfield have been in negotiations for the purchase of the

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Haunts property to allow the city to make improvements to

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a nearby bridge. In twenty twenty three and at the

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tail end of twenty twenty five, the city attempted to

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seize the property via eminent domain, but an outpouring of

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public support for the Haunt repealed the bill in twenty

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twenty three and in twenty twenty five pushed the issue

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to a referendum vote scheduled for this coming August. This

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past week, however, owners Sterling and Melissa Mathis have agreed

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to sell the property to the city for two million dollars.

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Possession of the property will be delayed until January first

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of twenty twenty seven, allowing the Haunt to operate one

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final year at its current location. Sterling Mathis announced the

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settlement to supporters via a social media post on May nineteenth.

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After years of uncertainty and legal challenges, our family has

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decided to settle and move forward. This has been an

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emotional and exhausting experience, and the stress has greatly affected

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my family, especially my wife's health. With this settlement, it

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is impossible to rebuild. We are planning to open this

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season for the Hotel of Terror's last season. We are

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grateful to everyone in the community who has supported us

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and stood by us through the years. Monster Palooza comes

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to Pasadena, California this weekend. Celebrate the art of monsters

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and movie magic this weekend as Monster Palooza returns to

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the Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena, California, May twenty nine

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through thirty first. The event features over four hundred and

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fifty vendors, monster museum, makeup demos, celebrity guests, panels, and more.

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Programming for Haunt enthusiasts. Included behind the scenes look at

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Las Vegas Universal Horror Unleashed Saturday at five pm, and

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a discussion about the legacy of New England's beloved horror

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theme park Spooky World Saturday at four Tickets for Friday,

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Sunday and the three day general admissioner on sale now.

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Pre sale Saturday single admission tickets are currently sold out.

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There will be a limited number of Saturday tickets available

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for purchase at the door starting at eleven am on Saturday.

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Get Ready for Midwest Haunters Convention. June sixth and seventh,

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The Midwest Haunters Convention returns to the Donald EA. Stevens

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Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois, for two days of pre

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convention tours June fourth and fifth, and two days of

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trade shows and programming June sixth and seven, produced by

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trans World Trade Shows, MHC offers an expansive trade show floor,

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education focused seminars, exclusive behind the scenes Haunt tours, contests

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and makeup wars, an annual costume ball, and more quick

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facts and in the event Overview. The pre con Haunt

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Tour Thursday, June fourth includes an immersive lights on walk

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through a Disturbia Haunted House and Downers Grove, Illinois, a

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light dinner and behind the scenes tour of hell Gate

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Haunted House and Lockport, Illinois, and a full show with

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live actors at Five Points Haunted House in West Chicago.

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Friday Night Haunt Tour on Friday, June fifth includes full

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shows with live actors at Basement of the Dead and Aurora, Illinois,

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and the Massacre Haunted House in Montgomery. All access open

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to the public. Kids twelve and under are free on

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the show floor with an adult badge. Signature events Bloody

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Mary Monster Makeup Wars on Saturday at four point fifteen,

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the Zombie Walk Saturday at five thirty, Costume Party Saturday

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at eight thirty, Sinister Vision's costume contests one day at

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eleven fifteen am. There's family fund including the MHD Kid Zone,

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live animal demos and hourly ticket giveaways. New for twenty

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twenty six is Game Night Saturday at five thirty. Relax

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with friends and meet fellow Helloween enthusiasts for an energetic

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mix of party games, classic favorites, ridiculous challenges, and more.

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Hosted by Scott tater Lind hands On Learning Lab, a

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vibrant gathering space for creators, builders, scare actors and Haunt enthusiasts.

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Features networking, mini education sessions and demos throughout each day.

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Over one hundred exhibitor booths, masks, animatronics and DMX lights,

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fog machines, makeup costumes and more, and more than fifteen

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classes and workshops learn about projection mapping, prop controllers, custom

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three D silicone prosthetics, foam, tombstone carving, and more. Tickets

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are on sale now starting in forty to fifty dollars

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for one day show floor access, sixty five dollars for

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Saturday and Sunday show floor access, and two hundred and

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thirty dollars per weekend passes including a Saturday and Sunday show,

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floor access, all one hour seminars, and the Saturday Night Party.

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Prices increase after May twenty ninth at eleven fifty nine

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pm Central daylight time. Some upcoming events May through July

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twenty twenty six include Monster Palooza and Pasadena, California, May

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twenty ninth through thirty first, Midwest Haunters Convention, Rosemont, Illinois,

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June sixth through seven, and Texas Haunters Convention in Irving,

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Texas July eighteenth and nineteen.

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And that's all for the news this week. Today's episode

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was produced by me Philip Hernandez with reporting by Darryl Plunky.

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Post production by David Swope. This hant News Update is

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a production of the Haunted Attraction Network and you can

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sign up to our weekly newsletter at haunt Attraction Network

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dot com. Support for this episode comes from Gantum Lighting

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and Controls. Until next time, Haunters Stay Scary.

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This is a Haunted Attraction Night production. Y